Litespeed F3: Corrêa secures position at Silverstone

Monday, 17 August 2009 11:38

Litespeed F3’s Victor Corrêa secured his third place in the Cooper Tires British F3 International Series this weekend, with two third place podiums and only two race weekends left of the championship. Riding 62 points ahead of his nearest rival, Max Snegirev, the young Brazilian looks set for a podium finish in his first year in F3.

Whilst may not have had an auspicious start to the weekend, be it in testing or qualifying, he showed true Brazilian spirit when it mattered, undertaking ‘slick’ overtaking manoeuvres in both races. This was particularly evident in race 2 in which he overtook four cars off the grid, including National Class leader Daniel McKenzie. Whilst McKenzie was later to take 2nd place back, Corrêa out paced him for almost half the race.

A solid weekend was also to be had by Litespeed’s latest signing, A1GP driver, Adil ‘Satrio’ Hermanto. Having put the car on the track for the first time in Friday testing, the team regarded Silverstone as Satrio’s ‘shake down’ weekend. It was a big ask of the Indonesian driver to race a car that he had only sat in for the first time 3 days before for his seat fitting, but ‘he showed himself to be competent and capable,’ said Litespeed F3 Technical Director, Steve Kenchington. ‘There may not have been a podium finish, but he drove better than most on their debut outing in a British F3 race.

‘Many do not finish their first race, but Satrio showed himself to have technical ability and an inherent understanding of F3 dynamics. He is a joy to have on the team and we are looking forward to his progression in the Algarve and beyond.’

Despite a recent aero upgrade from Mygale, Jay Bridger was not to have such a steady weekend. Race 1 was taken as a bench-mark in which to rationalise the new dynamics and produce results in race 2. He made a mark in Race 1, overtaking a number of cars with calculated and carefully planned actions and as such subsequent things were expected later in the day. Race 2 may not have started according to plan, which naturally had a finality to his ultimate position, but, according to Kenchington, ‘what was re-assuring was that Bridger was on the pace throughout the session and his final placement belies his speed.

‘The car is in transition due to its aero changes, but this weekend’s times prove that with Jay at the helm, it is capable of competitive results.’